Rivendell

The Rivendell chapter of The Return of the Shadow has all sorts of interesting tidbits included in the early writings. It begins with Bingo waking in bed with Gandalf present; the wizard recounts to the recovering hobbit what happened. There is another return of the narrator explaining the Last Homely House. When talking about Trotter Bingo says: "'It is an odd thing, you know, but I keep on feeling that I have seen him somewhere before'" (p. 207-208, The Return of the Shadow). We'll come back to this, but it's a detail that is mentioned again in the rewrites of the chapter.

Bingo meets Glóin at dinner and the two quickly recognize their connection through Bilbo. Glóin gives Bingo wink (a little detail missing from Fellowship) and catches him up on the happenings of Erebor. Here a break occurs and Tolkien jotted down some notes regarding unanswered questions:

• What happened to Balin?
• Who is Trotter?
• Lastly, Bilbo must be seen (he's been referred to twice in present tense, quickly corrected to past tense in the presence of Bingo)

In a rewrite Bingo asks Gandalf if Rivendell is safe. Gandalf thinks it is and gives an interesting rationale: "'They fear no Ring-wraiths, for they live at once in both worlds, and each world has only half power over them. while they have double power over both'" (p. 212, The Return of the Shadow). That is a curious statement and one that, with much thought, I could likely unpack. 

In one of the rewrites Tolkien began to plot out where the story was headed after Rivendell:

• Consultation
• Journey over Misty Mountains, down the Great River, to the Dark Tower and Fiery Hill
• Elrond's account of Gil-galad?
• Glorfindel tells of his life in Gondolin
• Who is Trotter?

The Trotter has been asked before and it coincides with the what I quoted in the first paragraph of this post. I think Tolkien was going to explore the fact that Bingo had known Trotter at some point, before he became a ranger of the wild. The Glorfindel bit is interesting as Tolkien ultimately decided Glorfindel of Gondolin and Rivendell were, indeed, one and the same. After his "death" in Gondolin Glorfindel was released by/from Mandos and returned to Middle-earth. 

The last bit of this chapter has a sketch of Elrond telling about the Last Alliance and the heroics of Gil-galad and Elendil. He reveals to Bingo that he was there as Gil-galad's minstrel and counselor giving great depth, age, and wisdom to Elrond who had not specifically appeared integral in the mythology previously.